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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29243457">Exes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaceyB19/pseuds/StaceyB19'>StaceyB19</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Friday Night Dinner (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arguments, Cheating, Ex-Girlfriend, Exes, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Romance, friday night</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:14:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29243457</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaceyB19/pseuds/StaceyB19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They were a lot of things, but they certainly weren't jealous</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jonathan "Jonny" Goodman/Alison, Jonathan "Jonny" Goodman/Liz, Jonathan "Jonny" Goodman/Original Female Character(s), Jonathan "Jonny" Goodman/Tanya Green</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Exes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All Characters except Chakrika, Robert, Sahib, Rebecca and Tim are borrowed.<br/>Rated T due to some bad language</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first of Jonny’s girlfriends that Chakrika heard about was Alison. She had been standing in the kitchen drinking wine and talking to Jackie, trying to block out the sound of her best friend and his brother bickering, when Jonny had blurted it out.</p><p>“Like you know what women want.” Adam’s voice had been dripping with sarcasm.</p><p>“Uh actually I do.” Jonny had shot him a dirty look, and Chakrika had been convinced that if looks could kill, Adam would have dropped dead on the spot.  </p><p>“Read it in a magazine did you?”</p><p>“No, I have a girlfriend.”  </p><p>“You have a girlfriend? Since when?” It had been clear Adam didn’t believe him.</p><p>“Since a month ago.”</p><p>“A month?” Jonny had nodded in response. “Alright, what’s she called?”</p><p>“Alison.”</p><p>Adam had opened his mouth to call Jonny out on the lie, but before he could Jackie had squeaked in excitement and asked, “When are we going to meet her?”</p><p>Jonny had made up an excuse about her being busy with work at the moment and hoped they would all let the subject drop, but what he hadn’t expected was the frosty reaction from his best friend, who had excused herself to go the bathroom and later spent the rest of the evening ignoring him. They had rowed in the garden, voices dropped to hushed hisses so nobody inside would hear them, as she had accused him of not trusting her enough to share his big news and he had told her it wasn’t that big a deal. When they had gone back inside, Jackie has asked Jonny what his girlfriend looked like and he had described a tall, pretty redhead with a great sense of humour. Chakrika hadn’t been jealous, at least that’s what she had tried to tell herself over and over again, hoping she would eventually start believing her own lie. In the car on the way home Jonny had asked her outright if she was jealous and she had been sure to tell him that one, she wasn’t the jealous type, and two, why would she be jealous when she didn’t harbour any romantic feelings for him? He had nodded in understanding, but when he had pulled into her driveway to drop her off he had confessed that Alison was made up, based on his workmate Simon’s girlfriend, and that <em>if </em>she was jealous, she didn’t need to be. She had slept better that night, and the following day she had messaged him to promise to keep his secret.</p><p>~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~</p><p>When Jonny had found out that Tim was going to be Chakrika’s date to her cousin’s wedding he had been hurt that she hadn’t asked him to go as her plus-one. She had only been with Tim for a couple of months, she barely knew him, yet there she was inviting him to a family function. He knew he had no right to be annoyed, Tim was her boyfriend, and actually they had been together for seven months, two weeks and three long days…not that Jonny had been counting. It was obvious who she would invite, but it didn’t stop him ignoring her texts for a week and then shooting her dirty looks across the dinner table when she had joined his family for Friday night dinner. She had told him to stop being childish and he had told her she should have considered his feelings and asked him instead, even though they both realised how inappropriate that demand was. Jackie had played peacemaker, or at least tried to, until Adam had stepped in and locked them in the bathroom to talk it out like adults. She had asked Jonny if he was jealous and he had told her in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t, he just didn’t trust Tim and didn’t think he was good enough for her.</p><p>He had been proved right a few days later when she had walked into Tim’s living room to find him half naked on the sofa with a girl from work. She had sobbed into Jonny’s chest that night, and whilst he had wanted so badly to say ‘I told you so’, he hadn’t been able to hurt her further. Instead he had rubbed her back and told her it would be okay. He had also attended the wedding as her plus-one, and as he had helped her smuggle alcohol into the teetotal venue then twirled her around the dance floor, she had decided that he was right, she should have invited him in the first place.</p><p>~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~</p><p>Tanya Green had been a completely unforeseen addition to Jonny’s pretty short list of girlfriends. Chakrika had pretended she was annoyed with him because he had made a move on the girl his older brother had decided he had feelings for after all, but that wasn’t really the reason at all. She was actually annoyed because she had wished it had been her backed up against the fence with her tongue down Jonny’s throat and her fingers tangled in his hair. When Jonny had asked her a week later why she was so angry with him and she had answered that she felt bad for Adam, she hadn’t been able to look him in the eye. He had taken that as a sign of her disgust, as opposed to her attempts to mask her lies, and the following day he had apologised to his brother and finished with Tanya. What Jonny didn’t tell anyone was that as he had gripped Tanya’s waist and nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth, he had been imagining it was Chakrika instead.</p><p>~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~</p><p>It hadn’t been a surprise to anyone, Jonny included, when Chakrika got together with Sahib, the son of her mother’s best friend. They had been friends since Chakrika had moved from India to London at the age of thirteen, going through school, college and university together. She had told him that one day it was like a switch had been flicked and she suddenly looked at her childhood friend in a completely different light. It pained Jonny to admit that they made a cute couple and that Sahib was a great match for her. He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word and he treated Chakrika like a princess. What did come as a surprise to Jonny, and a bloody unwelcome one at that, was when Sahib had got down on one knee and proposed to Chakrika at a party. Jonny hadn’t expected her to say ‘yes’, so he had been left heartbroken when she had burst into tears but held out her left hand and nodded in acceptance.</p><p>Sahib had told her a couple of weeks before their wedding that he wanted to move to India and after a lot of soul searching she had agreed to go with him. She had made peace with the fact her and Jonny would be nothing more than friends, or at least that’s what she told herself, and she couldn’t wait around forever for something that would never happen. Jonny had managed to force a smile onto his lips as he had told her he would support whatever decision she made, because that was what best friends did, before heading for the nearest bar where he had promptly proceeded to get pissed. He still doesn’t know to this day how he got home that night. What he does know, from careful checking of his phone the following morning, is that he had drunk-texted Chakrika begging her not to leave him. They had argued the night before her wedding, she had told him he wasn’t being the supportive best friend he promised he would be and he had told her that best friends didn’t ‘up and leave’ each other just because they got married. He had also told her he wouldn’t be going to the wedding. She had spent the whole night crying into her pillow and questioning whether she was making the right decision.</p><p>On the day of her wedding she had told Sahib that if they went through with it she couldn’t leave London behind and he had known what she really meant, that she wasn’t over her feelings for Jonny at all. There had been a lot of shouting, swearing, crying and eventually hugging as he had told her he loved her but knew her heart could never belong to him. She had handed the ring back to him, uttering a string of apologies and hating herself for walking away from her own wedding for someone who didn’t even want her. Jonny had been surprised when she had turned up on his doorstep still dressed in her red, Indian-inspired wedding dress. She had told him that she couldn’t go through with it, and that she wouldn’t be leaving him because that wasn’t what best friends did to each other. He had choked out an apology in between sobs and she had forgiven him like she always did. She had spent that night hidden away in his flat, unable to face her family, dressed in a pair of his pyjamas. She had known that she had given up the chance of a normal life with someone who loved her for someone who had no romantic interest in her, but as Jonny had hugged her closer and laughed at a shit sitcom on the TV she hadn’t been able to muster the strength to care. Her discarded wedding dress, jewellery and headdress had laid on the floor in his spare room, and the following morning the only evidence of her tears had been the mascara stains on his t-shirt.</p><p>~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~</p><p>“She’s forty bloody three.” Adam had gleefully chuckled as they had walked towards the Goodman house after bumping into Liz, Jonny’s boss and the woman he happened to be having a fling with.</p><p>Jackie had expressed her disgust, Martin had remained confused about the whole thing, Adam had continued his teasing and Chakrika had told him that he was the last person she had expected to sleep his way to the top. She hadn’t told him how disappointed she was, her eyes had done that for her, and it had been like a slap in the face for him. Then of course the burglary incident had happened and Jonny had been scared shitless after coming face-to-face with the burglar who had remained in the house. After giving another statement to the police, this time about Jonny’s missing car, they had all retired to the living room to pick through what had happened earlier that evening at the office. There had been a lot of screaming and shouting, mostly between Jonny and Jackie, until Chakrika had stepped up to the plate to calm everyone down. Situation diffused, she had somewhat insincerely wished Jonny luck with his new girlfriend and told him not to bother messaging her for a week or two as she was going to be busy at work. Adam had given her a lift home that night and she had missed dinner with them for the rest of the month.</p><p>She had been at the dinner table when Jonny had admitted that his relationship had fallen apart, and she had been standing in the kitchen doorway when he had awkwardly told Liz he didn’t want to be with her any more. She had felt bad as she had watched Jackie comfort Jonny’s now-ex girlfriend, but not bad enough to refuse to pick up the pieces when Jonny asked her in the car on the way home if she would spend the night at his place. They had sat up until three in the morning, drinking whisky as Jonny had confessed that he had slept with Liz because he was lonely and she was there. He had told her Liz had made him feel special, that her compliments had made him feel good about himself and that for once he was someone’s favourite, instead of living in the shadow of his brother. He would never tell his mother but it hurt when she called Adam ‘the favourite son’, because he could see in her eyes that she actually meant it. He knew she adored him too, but he also knew he wasn’t just second-born, he was second best. Jonny had fallen asleep first and Chakrika had managed to half carry/half drag him to his bedroom to put him to bed. Before she had headed for the guest room, she had kissed his forehead and told him that he would always be her favourite.</p><p>~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~FND~*~</p><p>They had both been in relationships which had broken down at exactly the same time, and it was those breakdowns which had caused their last argument. Robert had a wandering eye, Chakrika had known that when she got together with him, but she had convinced herself she could change him. Rebecca also had a wandering eye, in fact she had left her last boyfriend to be with Jonny, but he hadn’t really cared about that. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to either of them when, during a somewhat awkward Friday night dinner at the Goodman residence, they had caught their respective partners in the downstairs toilet with their lips locked and their hands all over each other. Jackie had promptly thrown Robert and Rebecca out, and the following week Jonny and Chakrika had arrived for dinner newly-single.</p><p>Chakrika had still been smarting from being cheated on by yet another boyfriend but Jonny had struggled to understand why it had affected her so much. He hadn’t been able to resist pushing her buttons until she had snapped and they had come to verbal blows in the hallway in front of Jackie, Martin and Adam.</p><p>“What’s wrong with you tonight?” Jonny had stared at her as they had stood in the hallway, a frown on Chakrika’s lips.</p><p>“Nothing, I’m fine.” The response had been through gritted teeth.</p><p>“Have you tried telling that to your face?” He had known he was pushing his luck but something in him hadn’t been able to stop himself.</p><p>She had tried not to roll her eyes, honestly she had, but she hadn’t tried hard enough. “I don’t know if you remember this Jonny, but last week I had a boyfriend…who cheated on me.”</p><p>“Hmm, I vaguely remember that, you know, because he cheated on you with <em>my</em> girlfriend.” His voice had been strangely indifferent.</p><p>“Why isn’t this affecting you?”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Why don’t you care that she cheated on you?”</p><p>He had hesitated, not wanting to tell her the truth but at the same time knowing it was about time he did. His hesitation had been enough to prompt his mother to repeat the question and when he had refused to answer, Chakrika had accused him of being a coward for not admitting how much it really was getting to him.</p><p>Chocolate and amber had locked in a battle of defiance, neither of them willing to step down and look away first, and something inside of Jonny had snapped. He hadn’t meant for it all to come pouring out, certainly not in the way it did, in front of his family, but he had been powerless to stop it.</p><p>“You really want to know?” Chakrika had mutely nodded, fearful of the strange, wild look in his eyes. “Fine! It didn’t bother me because I didn’t even want to be with her in the first place! I got together with her because you had a boyfriend and I was jealous!” Chakrika’s eyes had begged him not to continue, but he had regardless. “I didn’t make up Alison to shut Adam up, I made her up to see if you got jealous! I was pissed off you didn’t invite me to your cousin’s wedding because I wanted to be the one you introduced your family to, and I wasn’t sorry Tim cheated on you because it meant you cried on my shoulder and I could play the hero!” His voice had dropped to a low, dangerous hiss as he had leant in close to her face and continued, “When I was kissing Tanya I was imagining it was your throat I had my tongue down, that it was your hands tugging at my hair and you moaning into my mouth. I didn’t dump her because I felt guilty, I dumped her because she wasn’t you.”</p><p>She had dreamt for so long of Jonny confessing his feelings but it had been too much to take in and she had found herself whispering, “Stop it.”</p><p>He hadn’t stopped however, he had been on a roll and she was going to hear it whether she had wanted to or not. “When I saw Sahib get down on one knee I was nearly sick. Do you know what I did the night you told me you were moving to India? Do you know what I did after I told you I understood and I’d support you?” Chakrika hadn’t been able to say anything, tears in her eyes as Jonny had answered his own question. “I went out and got pissed to try and forget you even existed. I still don’t know how I got home that night, but I don’t regret telling you not to leave me. I was so tempted to turn up at your wedding and beg you not to go through with it, and I would have begged Chakrie, on my knees if I’d had to. One of the happiest moments of my life was seeing you stood on my doorstep telling me you couldn’t do it.” His eyes had finally softened after that, and so had his voice, self-loathing replacing whatever mixture had previously been there. “I was too scared to tell you how I really felt, I’d come so close to losing you and I didn’t want to fuck it up again so I slept with Liz. Every time I crawled into bed with her I wished it was you instead. She told me once that I shouted your name by accident.” He had heard his mother’s gasp, glanced back at his brother who had stood open mouthed in shock, but continued regardless, “I was <em>her</em> favourite but I wanted to be <em>yours</em>. I wanted it to be <em>you</em> doing those things to me. I wanted to wake up next to <em>you</em>. It didn’t hurt when I saw Rebecca cheating on me with Rob, because in my head I’ve cheated on her with you so many time I’ve lost count.”</p><p>When he had finally finished, he had turned to walk away and save himself any further embarrassment, but Chakrika had grabbed his wrist and whirled him around to face her. She had then taken a couple of steps forwards before grabbing his tie and pulling his five foot eleven frame down to meet her five foot three. Just before her lips had captured his, she had mumbled, “You’ve always been my favourite, you stupid twat.”</p><p>That night they had left together, but Jonny hadn’t dropped Chakrika off at home, instead he had taken her back to his flat. The morning after she had woken up in his bedroom, which she had decided was much nicer than waking up in his spare room, and she had made whispered confessions of her own in between stolen kisses. The following Friday they had arrived for dinner hand-in-hand, and when Martin has asked if that meant Chakrika was Jonny’s ‘female’, they had told Jackie that she didn’t need to worry about either of them bringing strangers over for dinner any more because although neither of them had wanted to admit it at the time, they had been jealous of each other’s exes.</p>
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